It's a Girl! Newborn Killer Whale Identified in Endangered Pod

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A pod of endangered killer whales welcomed a newborn into the
family a few days before the start of 2015, and researchers have
now determined that the baby is a female.

Scientists first spotted the
newborn killer whale on Dec. 30, 2014, in the Gulf Island
archipelago, but now the baby has been spotted again, and it
appears happy and healthy. Researchers were able to identify the
whale's gender while it was playing and skimmed the surface with
its belly up.

The birth is good news for the endangered group, named J-pod,
that roams around the Gulf Islands and Puget Sound in the Pacific
Ocean. It's especially fortunate that the new calf is a female,
since the pod suffered the devastating loss of a pregnant
19-year-old female last month. If the newborn survives, it will
be the pod's first successful calf in more than two years.
[ Image
Gallery: Russia's Beautiful Killer Whales ]

Newborns typically stick close to their mothers, but baby-sitting
is not unusual within a pod of killer
whales, so researchers have not been able to determine who
the mother is yet.

Ken Balcomb, a scientist at the Center for Whale Research in
Friday Harbor, Washington, first spotted the baby whale swimming
alongside a 43-year-old female named J-16, who has successfully
given birth to three calves during her lifetime. However, if J-16
is the mother, it would contradict what scientists know about
killer whale fertility. At 43 years old, J-16 is past the age
that researchers believe is possible for killer whales to still
produce offspring.

The other possible mother is one of J-16's previous calves, named
J-36. Researchers have been hoping 16-year-old J-36 would have
her first calf soon, but she was not spotted anywhere nearby on
Dec. 30 when researchers first noticed the newborn.

The new killer whale (or orca, as the whales are also known) has
been christened J-50, and she is the 78th orca in the population
that swims off the coast of Washington state and Canada. Killer
whales are widely distributed around the world, but the J-pod is
considered an endangered group by the United States and Canada.
The pod has been targeted for captive display in the past and
recently has faced dwindling supplies of one of its primary food
sources: Chinook salmon.

Despite their name and the
scathing documentary 'Blackfish ' that condemned SeaWorld for
keeping captive whales, killer whales are not
known for killing humans in the wild. However, the animals
are vicious hunters and are capable of taking down other large
marine mammals, including seals, sea lions and whales. Orcas have
large teeth that can grow up to 4 inches (10 centimeters) tall
and they can swim at speeds of up to 34 miles per hour (55 km/h).

From only two encounters, it's too soon to say with certainty who
J-50's mother is, the researchers said. The Center for Whale
Research will work with Canada's Department of Fisheries and
Oceans to observe and photograph the newborn over the next few
days, in hopes of solving the mystery.